[The reliability of ultrasonic diagnosis in diaphragmatic rupture]

The author detected a traumatic prolapse of stomach into thorax cavity. The X-ray examination was made only after ultrasonography. Two days after the operation, which confirmed the sonographic finding, symptoms of ileus became evident. The following ultrasonographic finding proved to be very similar to that made before the operation. A relapse of the prolapse was assumed to have occurred, but was not confirmed by a new operation. Since the X-ray examination of the stomach two months after the operation revealed a hiatus hernia, the author is of the opinion that a sliding hernia may have been cause of the erroneous diagnosis of the prolapse relapse.